1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle alternator failure monitoring systems and related monitoring methods and, more particularly, to a vehicle alternator failure monitoring system and related monitoring method for monitoring a power generation status and power generation failure of the vehicle alternator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among control devices of the related art vehicle alternators, attempt has heretofore been made to provide a control device that, with a view to initiating rapid charging of a battery, performs power regulation control so as to maintain a power output of a vehicle operator at a fixed level (of, for instance, of 14.5V) that is fairly higher than a battery open terminal voltage (of, for instance, of 12.8V). Such a control device is configured to variably regulate a control voltage of the vehicle alternator in an appropriate fashion depending on a running state of a vehicle based on power generation control parameters delivered from an external control device (see for instance Japanese Patent No. 3505882 on pages 5 to 12 and FIGS. 1 to 31).
Further, another attempt has been made to provide a technology in which control parameters are transmitted from an external control device to a vehicle alternator in PWM communication using one communication line through which a power generation status signal is transmitted from the vehicle alternator to the external control device (see for instance Japanese Patent No. 3531771 on pages 5 to 11 and FIGS. 1 to 10). Also, as one of protocols in serial communication, a LIN (Local Area Network)) protocol has been proposed.
By the way, the use of serial communication results in capability of increasing an amount of information for an object to be transmitted and received and monitoring a detailed power generation status. However, if attempt is made to allow the external control device to process power generation information having an increase in a rarely distributed failure status of the vehicle alternator, the external control device has an inordinate processing burden, resulting in the occurrence of an issue with a fear of deterioration on control performance of a whole of a vehicle.
Further, a failure state of the vehicle alternator involves a temporary voltage drop resulting form power-on operation of, for instance, a large electrical load. Under such a condition, even if the temporary drop occurs in an output voltage of the vehicle alternator, the output voltage rises again when the electrical load is turned off or when a power generation rate increases due to traveling of the vehicle. In such a case, it is nothing to get alarmed by turning on a warning lamp to provide a vehicle driver with warning notification. Thus, with no judgment made in taking not only an operational status of the vehicle alternator but also a vehicle status into consideration in an integrated way, undesired warning is provided to the vehicle driver accompanied by promoted uneasy feeling.